We picked this up to start Geoching. We LOVE it! Good price and you can download the cache locations GPX files from geocaching.com. It took us to about 5 ft of each cache so far. The only problem we are having is as soon as you stop your location drifts a little. Other than that we are very happy with it. 😊
This review is originally posted for the older eTrex 20 but is still applicable to the newly upgraded eTrex 20X since the OS stays the same. My eTrex 20 is still going strong and delivers every time.
Update 6/26/2016 Just completed a Norway Fjord Tour carrying my faithful eTrex 20 recording the traveling route while side-seeing Oslo, having ferry crossings and fjord cruises on Hardangerfjord, Sognefjord and Geirangerfjord, riding on the Myrdal-to-Flam scenic train, enjoying the zigzag mountain roads like Eagles road and Troll road, and visiting the low-elevation Briksdal Glacier. After returning I reviewed my journey with the recorded gpx files on Google Map and Google Earth.
Update 8/12/2015 Returned from a Baltic Cruise visiting various cities/countries along the Baltic coast. With the country maps downloaded from the websites mentioned in the review, I was able to navigate the ports and returned to the ship safely and on time.
Update 3/8/2014 Just returned from a hiking trip in Patagonia, my Etrex 20 performed extremely well. I viewed my trails on Google Earth and Map using the GPX files I recorded while walking in the cities, sailing in the lakes, hiking on the mountains and even trekking on the Perito Moreno Glacier. The maps I used are downloaded from the web links shown below.
Update 8/19/2013 I have extensively used my Etrex 20 during my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest visiting many national parks with excellent performance. Both GPS and GLONASS were turned on. With full view of sky, the accuracy is 7-9 ft. During the hikes in the Olympic NP rain forest with tree tops over head, its accuracy is 20 to 30 ft.
Etrex 20 is an excellent GPS unit with many features but requires a steep learning curve for a first time GPS user. These are my lessons learned:
1. Make sure to download Garmin's BaseCamp and update Etrex's software via BaseCamp before doing anything else. BaseCamp is a PC program complimentary to the Etrex.
BaseCamp is an excellent computer application for viewing maps, storing and organizing data, planning outdoor activities, and creating and sharing your adventures. With BaseCamp, you can:
* Import and view maps in 2-D or 3-D, including your TOPO U.S. maps and City Navigator® maps.
* Create, edit and organize routes, waypoints and more on your computer.
* Create and share Garmin Adventures.
* View playback of routes, tracks and adventures.
The manual and the intro videos for BaseCamp:
static.garmincdn.com/basecamp/en/Default.htm
2. Free Garmin-compatible maps can be downloaded from
garmin.openstreetmap.nl,
gpsfiledepot.com, (topo maps)
openmtbmap.org/download/odbl/#maps, and
wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download
3. There is a 3000-tile limit for the maps installed on the unit. Since installing maps to the "Garmin" folder on the SD card using MapInstall takes a long, long time, here is my trick to just install once all the maps you want and you can get access to all your maps quickly using a PC.
Create a folder named "Extra Maps" inside the "Garmin" folder on the SD card, and move all extra maps you will need later into the "Extra Maps" folder. This will largely avoid exceeding the 3000 tile issues because Etrex only loads the maps in the "Garmin" folder but not the maps in the "Extra Maps" folder. You can then move maps between the two folders based on your needs.
4. These programs will come in handy: GPX Editor, GPSBabel and JaVaWa Device Manager in addition to BaseCamp.
I purchased this item to use as a data logger so I could geotag photos using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I'd purchased another, less expensive, data logger but the user interface was clunky, took forever to install, and required conversion into usable data. On the recommendation of a question about this item, decided to go ahead and spend the money. Very glad I did. This is a sturdy piece of equipment, well made and solid. Design is easy to understand and functional. Comes with a quick start manual that gives pretty basic info, enough to start on. There appears to be no full function user manual on the Garmin.com website, but I stumbled across a downloadable manual for the eTrex 10, and found they are practically identical. In any event, even without a manual this unit is so simple you could probably figure it out just playing with it after a few hours.
As a geo-tagger/data logger it suits my purpose perfectly. Unit attaches to a USB port on the computer, shows up as "Garmin" in Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Windows), and the data files are in .GPX format already. Simply copy them to a hard drive folder then import them into Lightroom.
I would have given this unit 5 stars were it not for three things, which are more a criticism of the services supplied by Garmin and not the unit itself. First, it comes preloaded with a map that has major features, I understand. If you wish more specific map capability (such as nautical maps, hiking trail maps or city street maps), they are available from Garmin for a price, which seems a bit steep. However, I could not find that foreign country detail maps were available (I would have loved to have one of Guatemala where I'm going in a few months). Not a huge issue, but annoying. Also, in order to find the manuals, etc you have to hunt around and discover on your own that the manual covers a number of models. Again, annoying but not a huge issue.
On the whole I'm pleased with the purchase and expect I'll put it to good use on upcoming trips.
By now, I'm assuming anyone buying into a Garmin will know they're only as good as the maps loaded. OSM (Open Street Maps) has all but ensured that any map you could possible need is available, and free. The process of setting up the 20x was seamless. Basecamp isn't the most intuitive piece of software, still it works.
I'm using the 20x primarily for bike-touring/bikepacking/backcountry exploration. I opted to cobble all of this together with RidewithGPS which is a super good addition to what's available through basecamp. I'm less interested in turn-by-turn direction then I am tracks of various trails. It's worth mention that the unit will do turn by turn if you make use of routes. In my case, using routes makes it's more difficult to pinpont a particular trail over that of a road. However, I've used the 20x to navigate home from various towns or cities - each time the directions were spot on.
If you're looking for a unit that can handle cadence or segmentation paired with Strava, there are much better options than the 20x, etc.
So this thing was great. I used it for hiking in Utah, arizona, and Nevada. Worked great at Zion and Bryce. I used it to hike turtle head at red rock canyon in NV and it stopped tracking my path (it normally marks where you have been with a real blue line. Also I think it would be great if you could mark a waypoint on your track and it takes you back along your path rather than a straight line to the waypoint. This all would have been helpful while hiking turtle head peak as the trail is not too clear at all. Oh, be sure to download the free Topo maps onto the gps if you want it to be of any help at all....there are pay ones also if your into that sort o thing.battery lasts about 4 days if only running while you are hiking and the backlight is minimal unless you need to brighten it to look at it. It is great for having piece of mind you aren’t completely lost. The sunset/sundown feature was helpful as well. Think that’s about all the pertinents. I would buy it again. Happy adventuring.
Feature Product
- UPGRADED DISPLAY - Features a 2.2" 65K color sunglight readable display offering increased resolution (240 x 320 pixels)
- LOAD MORE MAPS - Large 3.7 GB of internal memory and microSD card slot lets you load a variety of maps, including TOPO 24K, HuntView, BlueChart g2, City Navigator NT and BirdsEye Satellite Imagery (subscription required)
- PRELOADED BASEMAP - Includes a worldwide basemap with shaded relief. Display size:1.4 x 1.7 inches
- KEEP YOUR FIX - With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, HotFix satellite prediction and GLONASS support, eTrex locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its location even in heavy cover and deep canyons
Description
The new eTrex 20x is our upgraded version of the popular eTrex 20, with enhanced screen resolution and expandedinternal memory so you can download a greater variety of maps than ever. This rugged, dependable GPS retains the easeof-use and affordability that eTrex is legendary for, with an array of compatible mounts for use on ATVs, bicycles, boatsand cars. The new eTrex 20x also has the ability to track both GPS and GLONASS satellites simultaneously. It supportsgeocaching GPX files for downloading geocaches and details straight to your unit.
I bought this for hiking and geocaching. Had to pay $99 for the extra maps with trails but for just geocaching its not necessary. The gps is extremly fast at aquiring location. Using glonass and gps combo works great. I replaced my garmin gpsmap 60csx with this model. It's more portable, lighter, and rugged. Easily fits in your pocket without weighing you down which was important for me. The screen is a little small but I'm ok with it. I can see everything just as good as my old unit. I'd definitely recommend it especially for the ease of geocaching with it. It's very accurate. More accurate than my old unit.
At first, I was disappointed that it didn't have the 10k geocaches on it and then when you were directed to the website, they tell me that they no longer supported it. BUT THEN, started playing around with it and found free mapping programs and figured out that there is far more to this little device than I knew. For the price and GPS accuracy, I absolutely love it! For me, the learning curve was steep at the beginning, but now, I'm elated and its very easy to work with. I recently traveled through Pennsylvania and in the areas that my phone didn't have service for my GPS maps, I remembered I had this in my backpack with updated maps. I got it out of the trunk and bam! It knew where we were, where we had traveled from, and our destination. I just wish the resolution was better. A lot better.
This is a great tool. I bought this for hiking but I have only used it around the neighborhood and in the car so far. I am still learning how to use it well. I find that it can be hard to remember how to operate some of the features at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is quite accurate and easy to retrace or to return to a waypoint within about 5 feet. You can also setup proximity alarms to waypoints that are helpful and you can get a lot of help on You Tube. At first the maps seemed a little pricey to me, but they are well worth it. I can find places that I have been where it's hard to find a map for, so this seems perfect for the person who likes those primitive trails. Just make sure you use it a lot before you hit the trail so you don't waste time fumbling with it. Also, this unit has decent battery life and it's a good idea to use it with a lanyard attached.
I'm a little slow on electronics. I'm using this device for scouting/deer hunting.I'm 61 yrs. old Here are a couple of tips that may help other older hunters like myself that aren't so electronic savvy.
1. Before you even use it, let it warm up on a 45 degree angle about 3 feet off the ground or higher. When I stop my mountain bike to scout..I turn the GPS on and prop it up on my bike seat for about 90 seconds..I'm hunting in a thick WMA Swamp in Florida.
2. Go to Way Point manager..and click on your Way Point..after you click Go..it brings you to a little map that you can barely see
a. On the left of the GPS click that lower button...then click it once more..this takes you to the compass..
b.and that is all you need. once you start walking the compass needle will point you in the right direction and continually let you see about how far you are away. For hunting , I set my distances in yds.
c. I use it to mark trails that can't be seen on Google Earth and to find my game camera and deer stand. So far..so good.
Garmin continues to make the best GPS for any application. This is a very small GPS unit with a corresponding small screen ... as well as being light as a feather. It can easily fit into a shirt pocket ... or be lost if not careful. It has fast satellite access and seems very accurate with its location. The display is vivid. The menu is tedious ... but going through the most-used menu items it becomes fairly easy to remember the steps. My only complaint is that when I select the coordinates menu to change how the lat/long is displayed they do not change on the corresponding map. Coordinates are always displayed as deg.min.sec no matter what choice is made. Just requires an extra step for me to convert to decimals.
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